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The Swingle Singers - Jazz Sebastian Bach

CD review

THE SWINGLE SINGERS
JAZZ SEBASTIAN BACH
Philips CD. 65 minutes
Approx. £12

Are you a fan of the music of J.S. Bach? Do you like small vocal ensemble singing? Do you have a secret passion for jazz? If you can answer 'yes' to all three questions, then this could be the CD-with-a-difference for you!

Doubtless many EN readers will have heard of the Swingle Singers, in one of their (at least three) incarnations in the past, or may be even true devotees; however, the group has gone a bit quiet in recent years, and this digitally re-mastered recording is a re-release of some of their earliest work.

The group started in the 1960s when some French singers, directed by an American, Ward Swingle, began to experiment with the idea of singing J.S. Bach's keyboard music, and also some of his orchestral pieces, and found, in the words of the programme notes on the cover, that singing 'The well-tempered clavier' came naturally. Fugues, after all, are written in 'voices', and much of Bach's contrapuntal music follows very vocal-like lines. The Swingle Singers quickly discovered, as did Jacques Loussier and many others around the same time, that Bach's music lends itself very readily to jazz-like arrangements - so naturally, in fact, that this recording is able to boast that 'not a note has been added or taken away' from the originals, and that there is no improvisation; the only addition is that of a rhythm section.

The programme on this CD contains a wide range of Bach's work, including such pianists' favourites as the Fugues in C major, C minor and D major, from 'The well-tempered clavier' Volume I, various pieces originally written for organ, the famous 'Air on the G string', which is from an orchestral suite, and 'Jesu, joy of man's desiring' from Canata No. 147.

The very 'instrumental' style of singing featured on this recording will not be to everyone's taste, and there is no doubt that the glory of the originals cannot quite be matched in this register, but it is a bold and fascinating musical experiment which might add an extra dimension to our appreciation of the music of the great JSB.

Simon Brennan